


The Valar Experiment

by Lady_Sci_Fi



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-01-07 10:36:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12231144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Sci_Fi/pseuds/Lady_Sci_Fi
Summary: While on the planet Valar, the Doctor and Sarah attract unwanted attention from some of the locals, who take particular interest in him being a Time Lord.





	1. Chapter 1

 Sarah smiled at the joke the Doctor said quietly to her, leaning closer into him affectionately. They were strolling arm-in-arm down part of an outdoor marketplace on the planet Valar. She pointed out yet another species of alien. At his answer on what it was, she said, “I bet you know every species here.”

 The Doctor glanced around in a half-circle, taking in the stalls and shoppers. “Every one? I haven’t seen everything, you know.”

 “You haven’t? Could’ve fooled me,” Sarah teased.

 “I am only seven-hundred-forty-nine. I can’t have seen everything.”

 “I suppose not.” Sarah stumbled as the Doctor pulled her to the side to prevent her from being bumped by a group of people from behind.

 The Doctor stopped and stared ahead. “What if I have seen everything, but I’ve forgotten it?”

 Sarah recognized the teasing tone underneath, and sighed. “Let’s not go down that road.” A stall of fruits caught her attention, and she pulled the Doctor over with her. “Oh, these look good,” she said to the stall owner.

 The purple-scaled being smiled at her. “I personally assure you that they are.”

 “Unfortunately, I can only look. I mean-“ Sarah was interrupted by the Doctor shaking coins in his hand. She looked up to him.

 “Sarah, do you think I’d take us to a marketplace and not have money?”

 “You’ve done it before.”

 “Which is why I’m prepared now,” the Doctor grinned. “Something sweet?”

 Sarah turned to the stallkeeper. “Something sweet, please?” At the gesture to the part of the stall where that taste was, Sarah considered the options, and settled on something that looked like a blue mango. It was firm in her hand as she picked it up, and didn’t take a bite until the Doctor handed over a coin.

 “Mmm…” Sarah chewed on the explosion of flavour in her mouth. “Heavenly.” She swallowed and held the fruit out to the Doctor. “Try it.”

 The Doctor noticed the thin blue line of juice down her chin, and swooped his mouth down to taste it from that. Sarah squeaked and laughed as she swatted his shoulder.

 The Doctor straightened, a wide smile on his face. “You’re right. Heavenly.”

 “Honestly…” Sarah sighed. She was unable to keep the smile from her face as she turned back to the stallkeeper. “Sorry about him. I’m still trying to teach him appropriateness in public.”

 “Where’s the fun in that?” the Doctor asked, taking the fruit from Sarah and having a proper taste.

 “You are love mates?” the alien inquired.

 “Oh, very much so,” the Doctor answered. “We’ll take another couple of these.” He gave another two coins.

 The stallkeeper nodded as the Doctor took another two fruits. “But, you are different species?”

 Sarah looked the Doctor up and down. “How can you tell?”

 “I can… hear that you have one heart, as is normal for Humans. I hear he has two. I have not seen this before, someone who looks Human, but has two hearts.”

 “Time Lord,” the Doctor supplied. “Listen, do you know any nice places to sit and eat?”  

 “There is a path to the left down another few stalls that leads out of the marketplace, with shading trees.”

 “Thank you. Good day.” The Doctor held the two fruits in one hand, pocketed the coins, and took Sarah’s free hand.

 Sarah flashed a smile to the stallkeeper as they walked away. They passed by a few more stalls, and the smell of roasting meat from one of them was too much to resist, and they got a shish-kebab each.

 They found the path between stalls out of the marketplace, and sat on the ground under a tree.

 “How far in the future did you say we are?” Sarah asked, taking a bit of the meat. The smoky savoury flavor complimented the sweetness of the fruit.

 “Oh, several thousand years from your time,” the Doctor said.

 Sarah nodded. “It would have to be, since there are Humans around, and they’re apparently a common occurrence.” She flashed a teasing smile. “Common enough that that person knew you weren’t Human.”

 “Rather refreshing, I’d say,” the Doctor remarked. “I’ve heard they have some beautiful waterfalls outside the city.”

 “Oh, now you tell me. I left my swimsuit in the Tardis.”

 “You don’t need that. Though if you think we should go back for it after we’re done exploring the marketplace...”

 “We’ll see.”

 “I’ve heard they are spectacularly beautiful at night.”

 “Even better, then? I’d hardly want to sit on the sidelines.”

 “Indeed.”

 “You know how to pick romantic spots, don’t you.”

 “There is so much beauty in the universe, Sarah. I like showing it to you.”

 Sarah leaned in close enough to smell the mix of sweet and savoury on the Doctor’s breath. “I look forward to tonight, then.” Then she quickly dipped her head down and bit off a piece of meat from his shish-kebab. She nearly dropped it from her teeth as she leaned back.

 They finished their meal. A handkerchief from the Doctor’s pocket ended up with blue stains from wiping fruit juice from their chins. They made their way back to the marketplace, hand-in-hand.

 Some time later, while looking at a stall of bead-weaving artwork, which Sarah said would look nice in her bedroom, a voice from behind asked, “Are you the Time Lord and Human pair?”

 The Doctor and Sarah turned, and he smiled at the two alien men. They were of the same purple-scaled variety as the fruit stallkeeper, the natives of this planet, the Valar. “Would there be another Time Lord-Human pair around?” the Doctor inquired.

 Sarah resisted the urge to elbow him in the ribs. She got a dangerous and unpleasant vibe from the two.

 “We were only told of one,” one of the Valar replied.

 “Ah,” the Doctor responded. “Well, I guess that would be us, then.”

 “Would you kindly come with us?”

 “Have we done anything wrong?” Sarah asked.

 “This is not something to discuss in public. Please follow.”

 “If we haven’t done anything wrong-“ the Doctor started.

 One of the men quickly drew his jacket to the side to flash the holstered firearm on his hip. “We would rather not create a scene.”

 “Ah… when you put it like that… I think we’d better follow them, Sarah.” The Doctor slid a protective arm around Sarah’s waist as they started walking. One Valar led, and the other followed behind.

 Sarah knew the Doctor was going along with this kidnapping for now, until they got to a less crowded space. It wouldn’t do to have innocent bystanders be hurt in their escape.

 Unfortunately, that consideration didn’t give them a chance. As soon as they walked into an empty alleyway, Sarah heard a gasp from the Doctor right before he collapsed. She fell with him, and didn’t get any chance to move before she felt the energy bolt hit her chest. She crumpled, half-buried beneath the Doctor, and then it all went black.

 ********

 Sarah awakened to familiar blue eyes gazing down at her. She blinked a couple times. “Doctor?”

 The Doctor nodded with a comforting smile, and pulled her up into a sitting position with him. Sarah glanced around, seeing that they were in a comfortable-looking room, complete with the bed they were sitting on. Across the room was an open door to a small bathroom. It reminded her of a nice hotel room, minus having a window.

 “Well, I must say, this is the best dungeon we’ve been in,” Sarah remarked, one hand unconsciously going to her chest where she had been shot.

 “Indeed…” the Doctor sighed. He noticed her movement and asked, “Are you alright? Does it hurt?”

 Sarah shook her head. “Not really. Where did they shoot you?”

 “The back. Rather cowardly of them.”

 “They did kidnap us and bring us here in broad daylight.” Sarah crossed her legs and leaned sideways against the Doctor. “What do you think they want from us?”

 “I have no idea. Certainly more than a chat.”

 A resigned hum came from Sarah’s mouth. “I take it you’ve tried the door?”

 “Yes. Locked, and the sonic screwdriver doesn’t work on it.”

 “So, what? We wait until they come in to tell us what this is all about?”

 “Appears so.”

 It was only a few minutes later when the door slid open and three Valar walked in. “Ah, good,” said the one on front, presumably the leader. “You have awakened. We can begin.”


	2. Chapter 2

 “Begin? Begin what?” the Doctor asked as he and Sarah stood from the bed.

 “Pardon my excitement letting me get ahead of myself,” the lead Valar said with a slight bow. “I am Dakan, a biomedical scientist.”

 “Scientist? Has my reputation preceded me, then?” the Doctor replied. At Dakan’s confused expression, he added, “If you needed help with whatever project you’re working on, you could have simply asked.”

 A shiver shot down Sarah’s spine when Dakan smiled at them. It wasn’t necessarily an evil smile, but still somehow conveyed bad intentions.

 “You wouldn’t have agreed if I had simply asked, I’m sure.” Dakan took a few steps toward them, the other two flanking him in step.

 “You never know until you try. So, what is this project you’re working on, then?”

 “You being here has given me quite an opportunity in filling in some holes in my research. I’ve never seen a Time Lord before.”

 “Biomedical scientist, did you say? Ah… now I think I’m beginning to understand. You want to study us?”

 “We’d rather not be studied, in any way,” Sarah spoke up.

 “Your consent isn’t necessary,” Dakan stated.

 The Doctor put his hands in his pockets. “Of course it isn’t. What is it you want from us?”

 “Specifically, I want to see how your body reacts to certain viral stimuli.”

 “Viral… you want to purposely make us ill? Just to see what it does to us?” Sarah clarified. “Absolutely horrible.”

 Dakan directly looked to Sarah for the first time. “Not you. Human data on the subject already exists.”

 “Then why is she here?” the Doctor demanded. “Let her go.”

 Sarah tightened her grip on the man’s arm. She wasn’t going to simply walk out of here, unless he had some sort of plan for her to do.

 “Is she not your mate?”

 “I am,” Sarah asserted.

 “Then she is here as a mercy. This will be… difficult for you. You will certainly desire her presence, and she will not be ridden with anxiety of not knowing what’s happening to you.”

 The Doctor looked down to Sarah, who met him with a determined expression. He knew not to voice his idea that she be let go anyway. She wasn’t going to leave him here alone, to go through whatever Dakan wanted to subject him to. He looked back to the Valar scientist. “Now that we’ve gotten all that out in the open… when does this begin?”

 Dakan half-smiled, showing his slightly pointed teeth. “Within a few hours, I believe. I will return later.” With a short bow, he and the other two Valar turned and left, the door audibly locking behind them.

 “What did he mean by that?” Sarah stared at the door with her hands on her hips.

 The Doctor shrugged, and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Maybe he has to clear all this with a superior.”

 “You’d think he would’ve done that before he came to see us. Before he had us kidnapped, even.”

 “He probably didn’t have the time between when someone he’s connected to overheard me tell that stallkeeper what I am, and when we were taken.” The Doctor let out a long breath, and reached out to take Sarah’s wrist. “Sarah…”

 Sarah turned, laying her other hand over his. He looked at her with an expression of relief. “What is it?”

 “I’m thankful he has no interest in you,” the Doctor answered. “If he’d wanted to experiment on you as well, I…” He looked down to their hands.

 “I don’t want him to do this to you, either.” Sarah stepped between his legs. She put her hand in his hair to gently stroke it back. “Is there nothing we can do to escape?”

 The Doctor shook his head. “I tried everything I could think of before you woke up.”

 “Mind if I take a look?”

 The Doctor smiled a little. “Be my guest.”

 Sarah flashed a hopeful smile as she ruffled his curls. Then she stepped back and turned to look around the room.

 The Doctor watched as Sarah went over the room and bathroom seemingly inch-by-inch. She reported back, “Right, I can’t see anything that you probably haven’t already thought of.” She looked back to the door, biting on her thumbnail. “So, we just sit here and wait for Dakan to come back and inject you with whatever?”

 “I have no intention of making that easy for him.”

 “I hope not.” She returned to her position of standing between his legs, and pulled him close. She dropped her head down to rest in his hair.

 After a few minutes, the Doctor realized something was wrong. His head started feeling muzzy and tired. “Sarah?”

 “Hm?”

 “I think I understand why Dakan left without injecting me with something.”

 “Why?”

 The Doctor pushed Sarah back a bit to look up to her face. “Because he already did.”

 “You mean, while you were unconscious?”

 At the Doctor’s nod, Sarah took his face in her hands. “What are you feeling?”

 “Tired and… muddled.”

 “Tell me if it gets worse?”

 The Doctor gave a resigned smile, upset that Dakan had already taken advantage of him. With a sigh, he swung his legs up on the bed and laid back onto a pillow.

 Sarah went to the other side of the bed and stretched out beside him. “It would’ve been nice if he had told us what to expect the symptoms to be.”

 The Doctor shook his head. “It could skew the results of the experiment.”

 “Ah, right,” Sarah tried to keep her tone light. “What do they call it? A blind experiment? Where the subject doesn’t know what is really happening?”

 “Exactly.”

 Sarah suddenly shivered, remembering being the subject of an alien experiment herself. Though that had only been for a couple of hours total. How long was Dakan going to keep them here? How much could the Doctor take? She knew he was tougher than the average Human, but how much was Dakan going to do?

 The Doctor seemed to sense her distress and turned onto his side to caress her cheek. “Let’s not think about what-ifs or what-coulds. We’ll take whatever happens as it comes.”

 “Not having some idea of what might happen makes this worse.”

 “I know.” The Doctor leaned in to kiss the bridge of Sarah’s nose. “But we’ll take it as it comes. Whatever it is.”

 Sarah bit her lip and nodded. “Well, I am glad Dakan didn’t have me left on the street to try to figure out where you were and what happened to you. I wouldn’t have been sure where to even start trying to find you.”

 “I’m sure you would’ve managed, with your investigative skills.”

 “Maybe.”

 The Doctor moved back a bit to fix her with a proud expression. “I always have faith in your abilities.”

 Sarah half-smiled. “Thanks.” Her expression turned again to worry. “You will tell me if you start feeling worse? I mean it. You won’t try to hide it from me?”

 The Doctor took Sarah’s hand and held it to his chest. “I’ll let you know.”

 

 Over two hours later, the first serious sign of whatever the Doctor had been injected with happened. Without warning, a painful spasm rocked through his body.


	3. Chapter 3

 “Doctor? Doctor!” Sarah cried out, immediately sitting up.

 Another violent spasm shook the Doctor’s body, and he turned his face into his pillow, letting out a long moan of pain.

 “Doctor?” Sarah’s hands landed on the man’s shoulder and side. “Tell me what’s happening.”

 The Doctor clenched his teeth against another wave of intense pain. “I-I… I don’t… hurts…” His hands fisted tightly in the sheets, and he turned completely onto his front.

 Sarah bit her lip, and her hands tightened their grip on his shirt. “Doctor, please…” She bent closely over him, seeing the way his eyes were shut so tightly, and how hard his jaw was set from his clenched teeth.

 “…fire…”

 “Fire?”

 “My… my nerves… like they’re on… on fire…” His teeth clamped back together at another spasm, though it didn’t stop the choked cry from escaping.

 Sarah frantically glanced around, and yelled out, “Hey! I know you’re watching! Stop this! Stop this now!” Her attention went back to the Doctor when his hand clamped onto her forearm.

 “Don’t… don’t bother…” the Doctor said, his voice strained.

 “What can I do?”

 The Doctor turned over onto his back with another convulsion of his body, and his eyes flew wide open with it. Sarah froze at the absolute agony within the blue eyes, but quickly recovered enough to grab his wrists before his arms could really start thrashing around. She pushed them down to the sheets, but the pain coursing through the Timelord had to have a physical outlet.

 The Doctor let out another cry, and his back arched up with it. His nearly tore his wrists from Sarah’s grasp. Sarah knew her strength couldn’t match his, and swung a leg over his body to straddle his stomach to stop his back from arching, while giving her more leverage to push down on his wrists. He was still able to lift her up, but not as much as before, and now his legs picked up the slack. There wasn’t anything Sarah could do about his legs kicking out behind her, but at least there was now some control over his body.

 Sarah could do nothing else but try to verbally soothe him and stare down to his pain-riddled face. At the Doctor’s moan of “Sarah…” she swallowed heavily. “Oh, Doctor…”

 Sarah shut her eyes for a moment. They had been in this physical position several times before, under far different circumstances, with soft touches and hard kisses, moans of pleasure, large hands sliding up her back…

 Sarah shook her head clear of those other times they had been positioned like this as the Doctor’s body tried to buck her off again. She slid her feet under his hips to get a tighter grip on him, and leaned down. She was secretly relieved that his eyes were once again closed, not knowing how long she could stand seeing them clouded in pain.

 The Doctor’s head suddenly shot up from the pillow, the forehead striking the bridge of Sarah’s nose. Sarah bit back a gasp, and blinked away the flare of pain. She refocused on him quickly, and it seemed as though he hadn’t even noticed the impact. His head had dropped back down, and turned to the side.

 Sarah took the chance to lower her head, pressing her nose into the wild curls above the Doctor’s ear.  “I wish I could stop this,” she whispered.

 The Doctor turned his face up, until their foreheads were pressed together. “Not… not your fault…” he croaked before clenching his jaw shut again.

 “Doesn’t stop me from wishing I could do something,” Sarah breathed. She grimaced at another hard spasm through his body. “Why don’t they give you the antidote for whatever this is?” She knew the answer, that there would be no point in this experiment if they stopped at any sign of pain from the Doctor.

 “You are…”

 “I’m what?”

 “D-doing something.” The Doctor settled his body long enough to brush his nose along the side of hers.

 Sarah understood, and a smile flickered across her face. “Then I certainly won’t be going anywhere.”

 It took a good while, but the bucking and kicking and cries from the Doctor finally slowed, until it stopped. It left him shivering from small shocks, but it was far more preferable to what had been happening. Sarah had released his wrists, and one hand carded through his sweat-dampened hair, while the other rested on his chest. She hadn’t moved off him, because of his protesting when she had tried to a few minutes ago. “You sure this is comfortable?” she asked.

 The Doctor opened his eyes, pain still reflected in them, but less intense than the last time Sarah had seen them. He raised an arm and weakly looped it around her back, pulling her down to completely lie on him. “Better,” he whispered into Sarah’s hair.

 The heartsbeat under Sarah’s ear did bring some comfort to her, knowing that his body was still working, was still going, despite the foreign invader within it. “Is it hurting as much?”

 “No… must be getting used to it.”

 “That’s a good thing, right?”

 “Maybe… not really sure.”

 “Maybe your Timelord biology is processing it faster.”

 “Perhaps.” The Doctor let out a long breath. The hand not on Sarah’s back found her hand on the sheets and closed over it. Her other hand was still in his hair, fingers lightly stroking the area above his ear.

 The shivering ceased after a while longer, and he didn’t show any more signs of suffering, other than exhaustion from the hours in agony. Once it seemed clear to Sarah that his body had beaten whatever this was, the door opened.

 Sarah immediately shot up to stand beside the bed, between Dakan and his two guards, and the Doctor. The Doctor tiredly sat up and grabbed her arm. She didn’t look back to him, knowing she needed to stand her ground.

 “I must say, you processed that more quickly than any other species which has been exposed to that.”

 “I normally do surpass expectations,” the Doctor said, though his voice was still strained.

“Indeed? Perhaps you’ll continue to do so.” Dakan raised his brow at Sarah. “We’re not going to hurt him.”

 Sarah stared at the medical device in Dakan’s hand.

 Dakan held up the device. “This will cleanse his system of any remaining infection.”

 “It’s an antidote?”

 “Yes. I have no reason to lie.”

 “But then what will you put in him later?” Sarah challenged. At the Doctor’s light squeeze of her arm, she sighed, stepped to the side, and sat on the edge of the bed.

 As Dakan leaned over to press the device to the Doctor’s bicep, Sarah considered bringing her fists down on the back of the scientist’s neck. It certainly made a tempting target. But then she remembered the presence of the other two Valar, and bit her lip.

 Dakan straightened a few seconds later. Even though he had brought the antidote this time, Sarah still glared at him until he had backed away. She asked, “When will you be back?”

 “We will leave him be for a while,” Dakan replied. With a smile, he and the other two walked from the room.

 The Doctor took Sarah’s hand and pulled her in close. He noticed the scraped skin and light bruise on the bridge of her nose. “Did I hurt you?”

 “Just a scrape, honest.”

 “What happened?”

 “Headbutt. It’s nothing, really.”

 “Sorry, all the same.” Then he whispered, “Next time they return.”

 “We try to escape?” she replied just as quietly.

 The Doctor nodded. “I should have enough of my strength back.”

 “The sooner we get out of here the better. If that was the first thing they started with, I can’t imagine whatever’s next will be any nicer.”

 “Me neither.”

 Sarah leaned back and ruffled the man’s hair with her fingers. “Until they come back, you should sleep.”

 The Doctor blinked a few times. “I need to be awake when they come back.”

 “I’ll stay awake.” Her tone silently added, “and watch over you.”

 The Doctor tiredly smiled, knowing it would be no use to argue with her. His body needed to rest to get over the pain it had been put through. “Yes… alright.” He settled back down and let out a long breath.

 Sarah took one of the Doctor’s hands between both of hers, drew her knees up, and laid her head on his chest.

  ********

 The Doctor slept for only a few hours, and as soon as he awakened, put his jacket, shoes, and scarf on, wanting to be completely ready to make a break for it. Then he sat with Sarah and held her close, burying his nose in her hair.

 “You’re looking better,” Sarah commented.

 “I’m feeling it.”

 There was the unspoken knowledge that if they failed to escape now, the Doctor wouldn’t be looking or feeling better for long.

 They didn’t have to wait long for the opportunity. They both heard the lock click the second before the door slid open, and were instantly on their feet. Two Valar, not the two who accompanied Dakan, walked in with trays of food.

 It only took two seconds for the Doctor to cross the room and bowl them over. He didn’t stop running, and Sarah took his hand as they crossed the door threshold. He arbitrarily chose a direction and ran faster, but not too much where Sarah had to struggle to keep up with him. He wasn’t going to let them get separated in this place.

 An alarm sounded, which spurred them both on harder. As they came to another split in the corridor, a nearby door slid open at their presence. The Doctor slid to a stop, turned, and pulled Sarah into a room. The door closed behind them, and they found themselves in a storage room.

 Sarah pulled the Doctor behind a shelf, which would obscure view of them from the door, if anyone thought to look in here. He hunched over her, the way he always did when they hid from people together. They both looked out between the spaces of the crates on the shelf, as they unconsciously slowed their breathing.

 As they had hoped, they heard frantic footsteps run past the storage room. They gave it another minute, then stood and cautiously poked their heads out the door to glance around.

 “They probably have cameras all over these corridors,” Sarah pointed out.

 “But it still takes the guards time to get places,” the Doctor replied. “Come on.”

 They quickly found a larger door that didn’t slide open at their approach. The Doctor looked through the window and saw a large security panel on the other side of the door. “If that’s out there, then we’re in the secure area.”

 “Meaning that must be a way out,” Sarah concluded.

 “Exactly.” The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver, hoping he could affect the panel through the door.

 Sarah turned away from him to keep watch. “Come on,” she urged after a moment of hearing the screwdriver’s high-pitched whine. In another few seconds, Sarah knew they were out of time. Several guards rounded a corner and saw them. Sarah grasped behind and pulled on the Doctor’s jacket.

 The door slid open, and the Doctor started to pull Sarah along after him, but it was too late.

 “Stop!” came the voices of the guards.

 The Doctor and Sarah took another couple of steps before more guards approached in front of them. They were trapped.

 “I assume this is the way out? We’ve gotten ourselves terribly lost, and-“ the Doctor stopped as a gun was raised at him and Sarah.

 “Quiet! You’re coming back with us,” the armed guard stated.

 “Ah, I was rather afraid you’d say that.” The Doctor sighed. He glanced around, and noted that there were too many of them to fight off or outrun, even if they broke through the line blocking the way out.

 “Your strength returned quickly as well, I see.”

 The Doctor and Sarah turned to face Dakan. “We’ve had enough of your hospitality,” Sarah said.

 “That is not your decision.” Dakan then addressed the guards. “Take them to the physical observation chamber.”

 The Doctor and Sarah exchanged looks. The guards circled around them, taking them back into Dakan’s clutches. They knew they probably wouldn’t get a chance like this again soon.


	4. Chapter 4

 The Doctor was shoved into a fifty foot by fifty foot room. It was empty save for a large cabinet against one wall. Sarah made to rush after him, but one of the guards grabbed her arm and yanked her back. “Let me be with him!” Sarah turned and shouted.

 “Not you,” Dakan said. “I have decided to expand the parameters of this.”

 “Expand? What do you mean?” Sarah demanded, still trying to wrench her arm from the guard’s grasp.

 “Whatever you’re going to do to me, don’t touch Sarah. Don’t punish her for the escape attempt,” the Doctor said.

 Dakan raised his brow. “I’m certain what will be done to you will be punishment enough for her.”

 Sarah kicked at the shins of the guard holding her, managing to break free. It only lasted a second before another guard seized her by the hair. She let out a cry at the yank, and ended up being held with her back to the guard’s front with two strong arms around her.

 Two guards went to the Doctor’s sides, while Dakan and the others took Sarah to a small windowed observing room. Sarah tried to break away again, but only ended up with both wrists handcuffed to the arms of a chair. Still, she struggled against it.

 Dakan bent over to speak into a microphone, “Remove his upper clothing.”

 “What’s this experiment, then?” Sarah demanded.

 Dakan sighed, turned to her, and leaned down over her. “You are quite fiery, but I do not need a physical Human specimen to study. Although, if you keep this up, I have no issue with adding more data to our already-gathered information on Humans.”

 Sarah set her jaw and kept glaring into the Valar’s gaze, not backing down from the threat. “You didn’t answer my question.” She kept the urge to peek around Dakan to see what was happening on the other side of the window.

 “I’m going to study how physically tough Timelords are,” the scientist answered. He sat in the chair next to Sarah, and leaned forward to the microphone again. “Teta sticks.”

 Sarah’s glare moved from Dakan to what was happening in the larger room. The Doctor seemed to be complying with what was wanted, and was now halfway through unbuttoning his shirt. His scarf, jacket, and vest were already on the floor in front of him. As he shrugged the shirt off, he looked through the window at Sarah, and slightly shook his head.

 Sarah knew what that meant, and she hated it. He didn’t want her to try anything. She knew trying to fight back would only make this worse for both of them. Attempting escape had inspired Dakan to do more to the Doctor than originally planned, and they didn’t need the scientist to get more inspiration. 

 The Doctor didn’t shiver from the cool air on his naked torso, but Sarah did from anxiety for what was about to happen.

 One Valar guard took two meter-long sticks out of the cabinet, and tossed one to his partner. The sticks looked like solid wood, and had a little flexibility. Both turned to the Doctor and approached menacingly.

 The Doctor raised his hands in front of him. “Are you all certain we can’t talk about this? You understand we had to try to escape, don’t you? I’d say that actually makes us good test subjects. Now that would be a fascina-“ He broke off to duck a swing. “Fascinating experiment. Like mice in a maze.”

 The Doctor caught the next swing aimed at his stomach. It took both hands to stop the momentum behind the powerful strike. It didn’t leave him any free hand or available motion to prevent being hit from behind, right across his lower back.

 The Doctor grunted at the pain the flared from the strike, but kept his hands on the stick in front of him. It took another hit to his back to make him let go.

 The sound of the stick against the Doctor’s flesh made Sarah flinch. She knew this was only the start of this little “experiment.”

 The Doctor turned to the guard behind him. “There’s…” he swallowed from the lingering pain. “There’s no need to be so rude. I was get-“ He was cut off by a more obvious cry from his throat as the other Valar swung at his side, just below his ribcage. He stumbled sideways to one knee, clutching at his side.

 Sarah could see the conflict on the Doctor’s face. He could take this beating without resistance, or try to fight back and possibly be successful, but what would that mean for later? They couldn’t afford to make this worse for themselves.

 Sarah swallowed when the Doctor stood with his back to her. Already there were three visible bruising welts on his back. She heard Dakan mutter, “Skin reacts similarly to a Human’s…”

 The Doctor raised a hand in front of him. “This really isn’t necessary. You’ll certainly up your security to stop us from escaping again.”

 Dakan instructed into the microphone again. “You may also use fists on him, if you wish. Don’t hold back on your strength.”

 “I’m sorry, am I annoying you, Dakan?” the Doctor asked without turning to the window. “It seems to be a terrible ha-“

 One guard tried to punch the Doctor’s jaw, which the Timelord blocked. But the other guard swung low with his stick, catching him behind the knees and sending him to the floor.

 The Doctor quickly got back up, though his teeth clenched at the flare of pain in his legs. “You two… you could play baseball quite well.” The next attempt to block a strike ended with a hard blow against his upper arm, and he gritted his teeth, though a long strained groan escaped through them.

 “Stop this!” Sarah cried out. “We won’t try to escape again.”

 “I told you, this isn’t merely punishment,” Dakan replied.

 “How much longer is this going to go on?”

 Dakan shrugged. “Until I am satisfied.”

 The Doctor didn’t want to risk his arm taking another blow from the teta sticks like that, already feeling the bruised welt forming, and jumped back to avoid the next swing. He couldn’t stop trying to avoid this, the instinct of self-preservation overriding the idea that he should simply let them get this over with.

 The Doctor managed to dodge the next three, but the fourth caught him in the side, the same spot that had been struck before. A strangled yelp caught in his throat as he crashed down to his knees. He hunched over and covered the spot with his hand to try to protect it. He couldn’t do anything to stop both sticks from coming down on his back in unison.

 That double strike drove the Timelord to the floor, still trying to protect his side.

 Sarah tried to get up from the chair again, intent on running in there to stop this abuse. She let out a frustrated shout when the cuffs didn’t break.

 One guard seized the Doctor by the arm and yanked him up to his knees. Another pull had him back on his feet. A punch to his cheek dazed him enough for the other guard to go behind the Doctor, bring the teta stick under the Timelord’s arms and hold those arms up over his head, effectively pinning the Doctor back against him and giving him no way to protect any part of himself.

 The other Valar seemed to take a few warm-up swings with his stick, and Sarah’s eyes widened, knowing this meant they were about to put this into a new gear of violence. “No! Don’t!”

 It was an explosion of brutality, with the swings of the stick coming in fast and hard against the Doctor’s front. There was no time to let the pain of one strike fade before the next came.

 A couple of the swings went wild, and the end of the stick came up against the Doctor’s face. They struck his eyebrow and under his eye.

 There was no containing the cries of pain as the strikes kept coming. Sarah’s hands on the armrests of the chair were fisted tightly, and her entire body shook in rage and torment at the assault against the man she loved.

 Flecks of blood spewed from the Doctor’s mouth with the next scream of pain. Dakan noticed it a couple strikes later, and told the guards to stop. Sarah let out a breath of relief as the Valar hitting the Doctor stepped back, and the one holding him let him go.

 The Doctor had no strength left to even pretend to try to stand, and he immediately collapsed to the floor. He curled in on himself, though the pain in his entire torso didn’t allow him to do it much. His breaths came out strained and accompanied with long pained moans. A crimson trickle went out the corner of his mouth to create a small pool on the floor.

 “Let me go to him!” Sarah cried out, struggling against the cuffs again. “Let me go!”

 Dakan gestured to a guard, who unlocked the cuffs. As soon as she was free, she burst through the door to the larger room, pushed past the two who had beaten the Doctor, and dropped to her knees at his side.

 “Doctor?” Sarah softly prompted.

 “Sa… rah…” came the weak response.

 One of the Doctor’s hands uncurled from around his side and reached to her. Sarah sat near the man’s head and spread her legs to make an empty space for him. At the shiver that ran through the Doctor’s body, she made a movement to reach out for his discarded jacket on the floor a little distance away, but he protested with a groan that sounded like a drawn-out, “…stay…”

 “Alright, I’m not going anywhere,” Sarah soothed. “I only want to make sure you’re warm enough.”

 “I am… I think…” The Doctor broke off into another moan through clenched teeth.

 Sarah gingerly pulled him until his head was resting on her thigh. She lifted her leg to let his arm under and around it. With a long exhale, he closed his eyes, and pressed the injured side of his face into the fabric of her trousers.

 Sarah spared a moment to shoot a glare to the window, knowing Dakan was watching them.  Her attention went fully back to the Timelord at the sound of a cough. A spatter of blood dotted her trousers in front of his mouth.

 “… broken…” The Doctor’s hand curled around his torso tightened.

 “What’s broken?” Sarah leaned over him, one hand in his hair and the other on his back.

 “Ribs… both sides… internal damage…” The Doctor let out a little cry as his body unconsciously squirmed.

“Shh… try not to move much.” Sarah looked back to the window and called out, “Did you hear that? Broken ribs and internal damage. Is that enough of a result for you?”

 “Didn’t hurt you… did he?” the Timelord asked.

 Sarah’s hand in the man’s hair started stroking through the curls. “No. Just cuffed me to a chair and made me watch.”

 The Doctor exhaled, and carefully turned onto his back to relieve the pressure on his right side. Doing so centered his head in Sarah’s lap, and he opened his eyes to look up at her. At the gasp from her, he asked, “What?”

 “Your eye… the right one…” Sarah swallowed at the large dark red circle surrounding the blue iris. It took up most of the normally white part. In addition to the bruising around the eye socket from where the stick had hit his face, it made a grim sight.

 “What’s wrong… with it? Hurts, but… can still see.”

 “There’s blood in it.”

 “Ah… blunt force trauma…probably hemor… hemorrhage…”

 “Something else for Dakan to study,” Sarah remarked bitterly. She took the Doctor’s hand on her thigh, and continued stroking his hair with the other. She couldn’t help but look at the contusions all over his torso. Each one she counted made her increasingly angry at Dakan.

 The Doctor closed his eyes at Sarah’s physical ministrations. “Sarah… don’t worry…” He smiled, but it did nothing to mask the pain he was in.

 “Don’t worry? They-“

 “I-I know… but it will… it’ll fade.”

 Sarah couldn’t verbally respond to that. It was so very difficult to think of that fact with all the physical damage on display. Instead, she stopped stroking his hair to lay that hand on the Doctor’s that was curled around his side. She interlaced their fingers. Then she bent over low, her hair falling forward as a curtain around their faces.

 “Sarah?” the Doctor asked as the woman’s forehead came to rest on his.

 “Shh… I’m here…”


	5. Chapter 5

 A few hours later, the Doctor’s ribs were healed, though still tender, and both he and Sarah were back in their comfortable cell. They were on the couch, Sarah sitting sideways with her legs over the Timelord’s thighs and one hand absentmindedly going through his curls. The Doctor had his shirt back on and halfway buttoned up, but the rest of his upper clothes were in a heap on the floor near them. Both had been quiet since being returned here.

 They knew they wouldn’t get another chance like that to escape. The security would certainly be tightened, and punishment for another attempt would certainly be worse, since the Valar had medical technology past anything Sarah had seen. The fact that they could quickly heal broken bones was enough proof. Dakan could physically do anything to them, and have them better within a few hours. It also made her wonder what more he could have in store for the Doctor, if he could do that.

 “At least he’s not cutting you open to study you,” Sarah sighed.

 “Doesn’t need to.” The Doctor opened his eyes, and the bloody one still unnerved Sarah.  The swelling of the injured eye had been taken care of, but the bruising and hemorrhage remained. The bruises on his torso also had been left. “They’re monitoring internal activity remotely.”

 “Through whatever devices they’re using to watch us, you mean?”

 The Doctor nodded, then closed his eyes and tilted his head back.

 A few moments later, Sarah heard the soft even breathing, meaning that the Doctor had fallen asleep. She couldn’t help the little smile at the sight. Then she sighed and kissed the corner of his mouth. The beating had been savage. She had seen him physically roughed up a little before, but this had been something else entirely. Something that had left him a moaning and beaten man in her arms.

 She took one of his hands into her lap, laid her head on his shoulder, and soon dozed off.

 ********

 They were awakened when they were given food. Sarah was rather hungry, considering they had sacrificed being fed for a chance to escape. She noticed the guards outside the door as she took the trays.

 The Doctor ate, but not with as much gusto as Sarah. She gave him a reassuring smile and leaned in close to quietly say, “We’ll find a way out.” He returned the smile and brushed his nose against hers for a second.

 They were left alone for a little while longer, until Dakan entered. The Doctor grabbed Sarah’s arm to stop her from confronting the scientist. Before she could verbally say anything, he said, “What is it this time, Dakan? Something to attack my internal organs? Maybe leprosy? Internal hemorrhaging? I’m sure the two hearts is somehow interesting to you.”

 Dakan smiled. “Now, Doctor, you know I can’t tell you. You seem to be a bit of a scientist yourself.”

 “Very much so,” the Doctor replied.

 Dakan gestured to a guard, who approached and yanked Sarah away from the Doctor.

 “Hey! Let go of me! Don’t touch him!” Sarah struggled against the large reptilian man.

 Dakan presented the injection medical device. Without resistance, the Doctor presented his arm. There really wouldn’t be a point in resisting now, when Dakan could force it to happen anyway. It would also serve them to let Dakan think the beating had cowed him.

 As before, the injection was painless, and the Doctor tilted his head as Dakan studied him for a long moment. “Expecting it to work instantly?”

 The Valar shook his head. “You are simply interesting, Timelord.”

 “It’s a gift. Occasionally a curse, but most times a gift.”

 “If you’re quite done here, go away and leave us be.” Sarah again attempted to pull out of the guard’s grip.

 “What if I wanted conversation?” Dakan turned to the woman.

 “If you wanted that, we wouldn’t be locked in here with you experimenting on him.”

 “Nothing wrong with being friendly,” Dakan said, that infuriating smile still on his face. He made a gesture, and the guard let go of Sarah.

 Sarah rushed to the Doctor’s side, and stared at the Valar until they left the room. Once they were gone, she asked, “How long until this one starts affecting you, then?” She didn’t really expect an answer. The Doctor realized that and didn’t supply one, only giving a shrug instead.

 It turned out that they didn’t have to wait long. Sarah stood up to stretch, wishing they had something externally entertaining to alleviate the time of sitting around waiting for things to happen. When she turned back to the Doctor to express that, she noticed a change in his expression. His jaw was set, and his gaze seemed clouded as he stared at her.

 “What is it?” Sarah asked. It looked like he was trying to hide whatever pain he might be in, but otherwise gave no clue what that might be. She took a step to him. “Doctor?” At the silence, though his eyes cleared, she said, “You don’t have to hide it from me, you know. Please, don’t.”

 The Doctor tilted his head in an unsettling way. Then, without warning, he shot to his feet and grabbed her shoulders. His grip was unyielding as he pushed her backwards to the opposite wall.

 “Doctor! What’s wrong? What-“

 “My Sarah Jane…” the Doctor growled.

 Sarah half-smiled and nodded, “Yes, I am your Sarah. But what’s happ-“ She let out a little squeak as the Timelord’s hands suddenly moved to the backs of her thighs and smoothly lifted her until they settled against his hips. Sarah quickly looped her arms around his neck and hooked her ankles around his middle to avoid being dropped. A second later, her back came against the wall none-too-gently.

 “Doct-“ Sarah was cut off by the Timelord’s mouth crashing against hers. She instantly knew he wasn’t completely under his own control, and tried to push him away.

 The Doctor backed off for a second. He had her secure enough against the wall that he was able to let go of her to grab her wrists from around his neck and pin them to the wall above her head.

 “Doctor, stop.” Sarah tried to unhook her ankles to wriggle out of the grip, but he pressed harder against her. She turned her head when he came in for another rough kiss, and it landed on her cheek. “This isn’t you. Stop it.”

 “You’re my Sarah. I need you.” The Timelord nuzzled his nose against Sarah’s ear. There was an undercurrent of danger in his tone.

 “As much as I would like this, you’re not yourself. It’s something Dakan did to you.”

 The Doctor shook his head and made a rougher effort to claim her mouth. He let go of one of Sarah’s wrists to grab her chin and turn her face to his. “You’re mine, and I want you.” Then he kissed her hard.

 Sarah used her now-free hand to slap the man’s cheek. She didn’t know if he didn’t feel it or didn’t care, since he continued kissing her. She tried kicking at his back with her heel, and that had no effect either. “Doctor, stop,” she warned when they broke apart for air. She quickly went through her options.

 “But, I love you.”

 “You don’t want Dakan watching us, do you?” Sarah reasoned.

 “I don’t care,” the Doctor growled, his voice tinged with anger. The injured eye only served to add to the dangerous glint in his expression. He roughly claimed her mouth again.

 Sarah hated having to go for a spot she knew was vulnerable, but couldn’t see another way to get out of this. He was simply too strong, and wasn’t listening. Instead of going for another slap, she ran her hand down his body until she reached his ribcage, and hit it with her open palm. She hoped it wouldn’t be enough to injure anything.

 The Doctor’s response was immediate, with a cry of pain and letting go of Sarah’s wrist and backing away a couple of steps.

 Without the Doctor’s physical support, Sarah fell to the floor, failing to unhook her legs from the Doctor’s waist in time to get her feet under her. She quickly pushed herself back up to her feet. “I didn’t want to do that,” she stated. She held his gaze, and saw his expression turn from anger to hurt.

 They were both silent for a long tense moment. The Doctor swallowed and tentatively said, “I’m s-sorry. It’s…” he made a frustrated noise and shook his head.

 Sarah reached out and placed her hand on the Doctor’s arm. He flinched away, and turned to address the room.

 “You have no idea what you’re doing! Messing with a Timelord’s brain chemistry like this! You almost made me-“ He let out a wordless shout, and rapidly turned to punch the wall. It landed only a few inches from Sarah’s shoulder. He stared in horror at his hand. His voice volume dropped as he spoke to her. “It… it’s in my head.” He tapped his temple to emphasis. “Messing with my brain… I’m sorry, I couldn’t…”

 Sarah reached out to physically comfort him again, and once again he flinched away.

 “Don’t touch me, please. Not- not now. I-I need… I’m sorry, I…” The Doctor stalked over to the sofa, sat down, pinched his hands between his legs, and closed his eyes.

 Sarah tentatively stepped closer, not wanting to disturb him, but needing to know what he was doing. She saw that he was shaking slightly, presumably with the force needed to control himself against whatever was affecting his brain. He looked to be in some sort of trance, and Sarah knew to leave him be.

 She looked to the bathroom, and decided she needed a shower. She glanced back to the motionless Timelord, and flashed a little smile at him, even though he couldn’t see it.

 Sarah didn’t stay too long under the water, despite how good it felt to simply stand there and letting it flow over her. When she stepped out and grabbed a towel, she shivered, not from the slight chill, but from knowing she was still in the situation. This wasn’t a dream that a shower would wake her from. What could she do? She couldn’t escape, couldn’t stop this experiment from happening, couldn’t do much except be there for the Doctor as moral support. And what could she do with the Doctor if he wasn’t in control of himself?

 She dried off and redressed, determined not to use this as an excuse to hide from the situation. She would face it like she always did, no matter what happened. Then she had a nasty thought that Dakan might have a monitoring device in here, and hurried out.

 It looked as though the Doctor hadn’t moved an inch while Sarah had been gone, and he was still trembling. Sarah couldn’t leave him alone any longer, and slipped down to sit beside him. She put her arm around his back, and he tried to flinch away. Sarah didn’t let go, and pulled him in slightly. The Timelord wordlessly relented, and settled with his head under her chin and ear to her chest.

 That physical motion opened a floodgate, and the Doctor’s breath hitched as he began to cry. Sarah wrapped her other arm around the Timelord’s head, protecting him from whatever she could. She blankly stared out over the dark curls, silently cursing the Valar scientist for the hundredth time as she held the man.

 “…sorry…” came the word between sobs.

 “You have nothing to be sorry for.” Sarah’s fingers began massaging the Doctor’s scalp.

 “I could’ve hurt you… nearly did…”

 “That’s not your fault, and we both know it.”

 The Doctor’s sobbing lessened as he raised a hand from between his pinched together legs, and watched as it shook. Sarah briefly removed her hand from his hair to gently push the hand back down.

 “I’m afraid.”

 Sarah closed her eyes at the quietly heartwrenching confession. The Doctor almost never stated when he was afraid, although Sarah had learned to see the signs when he was. Still, for him to outright say it like this, for him to be this vulnerable, crying in her arms… “It’s… it’s alright to be afraid.” She laid the side of her head on top of his, and her hand in his hair moved to the back of his neck, once again protective. “I am, too.”

 The Doctor released the same trembling hand as before, and curled it around Sarah’s side. “My brave Sarah Jane…”


	6. Chapter 6

 The Doctor shot up to his feet when the door opened to reveal Dakan, with his ever-present two guards flanking him as he entered. Sarah was nearly knocked to the floor by the force of the motion. The Doctor didn’t seem to care as all his attention focused on the scientist.

 Sarah instantly got up to stand in front of the Timelord, seeing a look of absolute rage in his eyes as he began stalking towards the Valar. “No,” she said.

 The Doctor did not stop, and Sarah had to press her hands firmly against his chest to physically make him stop walking. “No,” she repeated. This time, he looked down at her, expression softening. He stepped to the side to keep going, but she copied the movement, even slightly pushing him back. “Don’t. Don’t do whatever it is you’re thinking.”

 The Doctor’s face became enraged again as he looked back to Dakan. “You almost made me… made me hurt Sarah!” he yelled. He stepped forward again.

 Sarah blocked him again, grabbing at his half-buttoned shirt. “That doesn’t matter,” she urged. The look in the Timelord’s eyes frightened her, the injured one making it even more crazed.

 The Doctor glanced to her. “It does matter… If I…” His gaze went back to Dakan. “If I had, you deserve-“

 “No!” Sarah commanded again. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not you, remember? It’s whatever is in you right now. It’s not you!”

 Dakan spoke from the doorway. “It truly was interesting how, once you realized what was happening to you, you were able to control yourself, even if it was only with great effort.”

 That spurred the Doctor to try to get past Sarah again, this time nearly knocking her to the floor. Sarah grabbed him around the middle. “Stop. Don’t.”

 “Also of note is how that self-control leaves you when confronted with a subject of displeasure,” Dakan stated.

 The Doctor growled, baring his teeth. Sarah reached around his back to grab his opposite wrist from trying to take any swings at anyone. She said to the scientist, “Stop provoking him, idiot!” She knew if he fully let himself go under the influence of whatever was affecting him, she would not be able to stop him.

 “You nearly hurt your mate, but she doesn’t seem to care.”

 Sarah could feel the muscles in the Doctor’s body tensing more, obviously preparing to attack. She couldn’t let him do it, and quickly thought through her options. Slapping him wouldn’t work, as had already been proved. She really did not want to hurt him again. She had to make it difficult for him, and put herself in harm’s way if he did.

 Sarah jumped up and hooked her ankles behind the man’s back. She tightly wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her forehead to his, blocking his view of the Valar. “No,” she whispered. “Fight it, like you did before. Get control again. I know you can. For me?”

 Sarah let out a little breath of relief as the Doctor took a step back, then another and another until the back of his legs hit the edge of the sofa. “That’s it,” Sarah encouraged, letting herself down off him. She took his hands, and guided him down to sit. Then she tucked his hands between his thighs. “Quiet… calm…” she soothed.

 The Doctor closed his eyes, though his muscles were still very tense. Still, he was under some self-control now.

 “I do need to give him the antidote,” Dakan said.

 “Don’t come near me,” the Doctor warned, voice strained. He opened his eyes, and focused on Sarah.

 Sarah understood, and turned to Dakan. “Let me do it.”

 “That’s hardly-“

 “He won’t let you come near him without consequences. I’m sure if whatever you put in him is left for much longer, it’ll start doing really bad things to him, yes?” Sarah stepped away from the Doctor to the scientist.

 Dakan nodded, and beckoned her over. He gave her two injection devices and gave her brief instructions.

 The Doctor watched the exchange, keeping his focus on Sarah. He couldn’t think about Dakan, not if he wanted to keep control. He couldn’t risk going into that rage again, not when he was already so mentally exhausted from the hours of keeping control before Dakan had come.

 Sarah returned to him. She put one device down on the couch cushion to caress his cheek. “This’ll make it stop,” she assured. As he dutifully tilted his head to give her access to his neck, she bit her lip at the sight. Gone was the rage from the Timelord’s eyes, leaving only fear of what he might do if his stretched tether of control snapped.

 Still, the Doctor flinched when Sarah pressed the device to his skin. Sarah gently shushed him, and pressed the button to release the chemicals into him. After a moment, she did the same with the other injection device.

 Sarah sighed at the tentative way the man circled his arms around her waist and pulled himself close against her. She let him hold her for a minute, but gently pushed away to return the devices to Dakan.

 The Valar grinned in that smug manner, took Sarah’s arm, and told her, “Thank you, for that. He must really love you. No one else-”

 Sarah wrenched her arm away. “I didn’t do it for you. Now, go away.”

 Dakan slightly bowed. “Of course.” Then he and his guards left.

 “How are you feeling?” Sarah asked, going back to the Doctor.

 “I’m sorry, for what…” the Doctor swallowed heavily, not able to look the woman in the eye. “Thank you, for… stopping me.”

 Sarah tilted the Doctor’s face up with a finger under his chin. “Come on, you could use a shower.” 

 ********

 “This has gone on long enough, Dakan!” the Doctor shouted in protest when presented with another injection.

 “I am the one who decides that, not you,” the scientist responded.

 “I’m sure there’s so much more you could do to me. So much. But, this cannot go on much longer.”

 “You have no power here, Doctor.”

 The Timelord shook his head.

 “How would you like it if someone took you off the street and experimented on you?” Sarah demanded.

 “I am not the one in that position.”

 “This isn’t right and you know it,” Sarah pressed. “What benefit are you getting from this?”

 “Knowledge is worth certain prices.”

 “Is it, always? If someone rounded up your people to-“

 “That’s enough!” Dakan commanded. “I am not here to debate scientific ethics with you, Sarah.” His eyes flickered between the Human and the Timelord a few times. He turned to his guards and made a gesture towards the pair. “Perhaps I’ve been too merciful, Doctor.”

 “Going to beat me into submission again?” the Doctor asked.

 “We could always use more data on Humans,” Dakan stated as the guards reached the pair.

 It didn’t take much to separate the Doctor and Sarah, despite their struggling, with the enhanced strength the Valar possessed.

 “Stop, please!” the Doctor cried out again as one guard dragged Sarah over to Dakan. The other guard had him down on his knees with a strong arm wrapped around his chest. “Don’t hurt her!” The Doctor desperately reached out. “Whatever it is, do it to me!” His voice quieted, “Just don’t… don’t hurt Sarah.”

 “Stop,” Dakan ordered, and it seemed as though everyone in the room froze. He tilted his head and asked, “You know you have no power here?”

 “You’ve already proved that,” the Doctor replied, breathing heavily. He turned slightly to offer his arm. “Whatever you’ve got today, do it.”

 “Doctor-“ Sarah started, and a scaly hand closed over her mouth.

 “If you know what’s good for you, you will not provoke me further,” Dakan warned the woman. Then he went to the Doctor.

 Sarah looked to the Timelord, who shook his head at her, his meaning clear. She made a frustrated noise into the hand covering her mouth.

 “Let me go,” the Doctor said to the guard holding onto him. “I won’t run.”

 Dakan nodded, and the guard released his grip. The Doctor pushed himself up to sit on the couch, and offered his arm again, pulling down the shoulder of his shirt for emphasis. The scientist flashed his smug smile as he pressed an injection device to the exposed skin of the Timelord’s bicep.

 Dakan stepped back until he was halfway between the Doctor and the doorway. He watched the Timelord, who only stared at him with contempt.

 The hand over Sarah’s mouth let go, and she asked, “You’ve done it, now go away.”

 Dakan shook his head. “If my theory is true, we won’t have long at all to wait.”

 Sarah stomped down on the guard’s foot in an attempt to get him to completely let her go, but it had no effect, and all she could do was watch as whatever was going to happen did.

 The Doctor stared down at his hand, attached to the same arm that had been given the injection. “Dakan…” He flexed the fingers and clenched them into a fist, but it wasn’t tight. “I… I’m losing feeling…”

 “The differences in your cardiovascular system is affecting how quickly this one spreads.”

 “How far is it supposed to spread?” the Doctor tried to keep his tone calm. Dakan didn’t answer, and the Doctor glared at him before turning his attention back to his hand. “Paralytic…”

 “You know it works! You’ve got your answer!” Sarah shouted. “Now give him the antidote!”

 The Doctor shook his leg, on the same side as his affected arm. “It’s starting in this leg.” Fear flashed through him, realizing this was supposed to fully paralyze his body if left untreated. He tried to raise his affected arm, but only managed to make the fingers twitch. When had it gotten so bad? If it reached his central nervous system and went up into his brain…

 The rest of the Timelord’s body started shaking as it tried to fight off the intrusive force that had been unleashed in it. “Dakan, please… stop this. Before it causes… irreparable damage to me.” He moved to stand, but his leg had joined his arm in being nonfunctional, and he fell to his knees and sideways against the couch, his affected arm resting uselessly on the cushions. Out of frustration, he hit his dead leg to try to work some semblance of feeling back into it. It did nothing to stop the icy creeping in his torso.

 “He’s helpless already! Give it to him!” Sarah urged, physically struggling against the Valar holding her back.

 The Doctor couldn’t stand, couldn’t shift his weight without risking falling over completely. He looked up at the scientist, eyes open and begging. “If you… if you let this go on… much longer… I won’t be useful to you.”  He couldn’t stop the note of panic from tinging his voice. The loss of feeling had spread across both shoulders. His breathing became erratic as an emotional response.

 Dakan simply stared at the Doctor a few seconds more, before finally stepping forward with another injection device. He placed it against the same spot as before, and administered the antidote. When backed away and told the guards, “You can release her now.”

 The instant she was let go, Sarah raced to the Doctor’s side. She grabbed his face and tilted it up, searching it for any more signs of distress.

 “It’s stopped,” the Doctor said after a long and tense moment. “Already… receding.”

 Sarah turned to Dakan. “You almost let him be completely paralyzed.”

 Dakan shook his head. “Even with the enhanced spreading rate, it would’ve been a few more minutes before irreparable damage would have occurred.” He let out a breath. “Fascinating. Now, I believe you wanted me to leave?” With that, he bowed his head and led the guards in exiting the room.

 The Doctor tested out his fingers, already able to move them. His arm was still heavy as he brought that hand up to lay it on Sarah’s forearm. “Already reversing,” he noted.

 “Do you believe what he said, about how much time you had?”

 “He was… probably right.”

 Sarah helped the Doctor up to sit on the couch. “Still, he didn’t have to leave it as long as he did. That was just cruel.”

 The Doctor relaxed against the cushions, breathing more normally now that the paralysis was slowly wearing off. “He’s hardly limited on the cruelties he can inflict on us.” 


	7. Chapter 7

 Sarah was getting bored out of her mind by this point, with nothing to do but wait until whatever terrible thing Dakan had injected the Doctor with to take effect, then wait for him to come back and do something else. To fill the time, the Doctor had taken to telling her stories of his past adventures, of which it would be a long time before he ran out.

 Sarah wondered just how much more of this the Timelord could take. He was so pale and fatigued by all this. And if he reached his limit, what would happen then? Would he be able to regenerate, or would he die completely? She remembered that the previous Doctor had needed the help of another Timelord to regenerate, his body had been so damaged by radiation. Well, there certainly weren’t any other Timelords around here to help the Doctor if he needed it again.

 And if he did regenerate… well, she wanted this Doctor to be the one to pull through, not have a new one. She loved this one, and didn’t want that to change. Of course she would help the next one, but this one was special to her.

 Another thought entered Sarah’s mind. If the Doctor did regenerate, that would only give Dakan another body to experiment on. And another and another until the Doctor couldn’t any more. What kind of a life would that be?

 The Doctor touched Sarah’s arm, smiling slightly in his way to reassure her he was fine, no matter what all the other indicators said.

 “Sorry,” Sarah responded. “Just thinking. Rather morbid thoughts, too.” She swallowed heavily. “You don’t need to worry about them.”

 “We’ll get out of here,” the Doctor assured.

 It would take more than that to fully convince Sarah, but she appreciated the attempt nonetheless. He still had his sense of optimism, which was good. His spirit hadn’t been beaten down yet.

 As though the positive statement was tempting fate, the Doctor suddenly stiffened, his hand going to the left side of his chest. He clutched at it for a second before hitting it with his palm. His frantic strikes were weak, and he started breathing rapidly in a panic. His eyes flew wide from pain.

 “Doctor?” Sarah was instantly over him, hands in the air, not knowing what to do. “What is it? What’s happened?”

 Between fearful breaths, the Timelord said, “It’s stopped. It-“ He hit his chest again, as hard as he could, which didn’t seem to do anything. 

 One of his hearts, Sarah quickly understood. His hands were now shaking, making his attempts to beat it into restarting even more useless. “What do you need me to do?” she asked, trying to hide the panic in her voice.

 “Sh-shouldn’t take much to- I can’t-“

 Sarah grabbed the man’s hands and shoved them down under his thighs to keep them out of her way. Then she opened her hand and struck the spot he had been.

 “Harder,” the Doctor gasped. “Hard as- as you can.”

 Determining that she wasn’t going to hurt him any more than he already was, Sarah put all her strength into the next strikes, until the Doctor croaked out, “Stop…”

 Immediately, Sarah stopped and began brushing the curly hair back from his face, making soothing sounds as she did so. His forehead shined with a thin layer of sweat. Then she noticed his breathing wasn’t regulating. “Doctor, it’s beating again?”

 The Doctor feebly nodded. “Just need… breathe… Can’t get control….” An anxious sob escaped, further proving the point.

 Sarah straddled the Doctor’s waist and lightly grabbed the hair over his ears to draw his face up to hers. She pressed their foreheads together, then brought one of his hands up to splay over her chest. “Feel that,” she whispered. “My breathing. Do you feel it?”

 At the slight nod, Sarah continued, “Good. Now breathe with me.” One of her hands went to caress the side of his neck. “Breathe with me… In… out…That’s it…” Sarah could feel the slow steadying breaths against her face. Her hand in his hair petted through it in a comforting manner.

“Taking my… my control…”

 “Shh… I know… Just keep breathing with me.” As the Doctor moved his head down to bury his face in her neck, she soothed, “You’re here with me… that’s what matters.” She lowered her nose to his hair.

 A moment later, the Doctor’s breathing had normalized. Sarah put her hands on both sides of his chest, and felt the left heart was still weaker than the right.

 The Timelord drew back and assured, “Just give it a few minutes to strengthen.” He rested his head back against the top of the sofa cushion.

 “It’s not hurting?”

 “A little. To be expected.”

 Sarah glanced towards the door, wondering why Dakan hadn’t come in yet. Surely cardiac arrest was worth his attention. The Doctor seemed to sense her question, and answered, “He can monitor all our body signs remotely, remember? He’ll see that it’s started and returning to normal.”

 Sarah nodded and turned her attention back to the man, glad that Dakan didn’t need to come bother them right now. “What if… if it happens again?”

 The Doctor grimly smiled. “Then you know a method to restarting it.” He cleared his throat. “Now, I think we both need to relax.” Without moving Sarah from her position on him, he slid down sideways until he was lying on his back. He tugged Sarah’s hand, and she stretched out on top of him. He positioned her head to his chest, her ear over his left heart. “So you’ll know if anything’s wrong with it.”

 Sarah could feel that the beat under her ear wasn’t quite right, but tried to not worry about it. It would normalize soon. Sarah nervously bit her lip. “If it’s the other one that goes?”

 The Doctor took the woman’s hand and held it palm-down over his right heart. Sarah could feel the beat enough to know if anything happened to it. “Does that work?” the Timelord asked.

 “Yes. I hope I don’t need to hit either of them again.”

 “So do I.” the Doctor closed his eyes and willed the rest of his still-anxious body to calm down.

 ********

 The next day brought with it something that was now making the Doctor curl up in agony on the carpeted floor. Sarah had tried moving him to the bed or couch, but he was simply too large and couldn’t seem to get his legs to work properly. She settled for huddling over him, doing her best to soothe him with words and gentle touches. She didn’t need to be a doctor herself to know it wasn’t really helping, but she hoped it was at least making him feel emotionally better.

 Sarah let out a frustrated breath as the Doctor’s body violently shivered as a pathetic cry came from his mouth and his fingers tightened in his hair. She couldn’t do anything, anything at all to ease his pain. She couldn’t put a stop to this experiment, couldn’t put a stop to the agony…

 Then an idea formed in her mind. It would bring hurt to herself, but she didn’t care.

 “Doctor?”  At the answering whimper, she grimaced. “Doctor, could I take some of the pain?”

 The Timelord’s eyes cracked open slightly. “What?”

 “Could I take some of the pain, if we do our mental link thing?”

 The Doctor shook his head through another spasm of agony.

 “No, I can’t? Or no, you won’t?”

 “I won’t… won’t allow it.”

 Sarah turned the man over onto his back so he would look at her. “I don’t care what you won’t allow. They haven’t touched me, and you’re already weak from all the other stuff. Let me take some of it.”

 The Doctor violently shook his head. But a cry through gritted teeth only strengthened Sarah’s resolve. “It’s not like you could transmit whatever is in your system. It’s just the pain. I’m not asking you to give me all of it, or even half of it. Just whatever you think I can handle. Please, let me help you…”

 “S-Sarah-“

 “I can take it.”

 For whatever reason that Sarah didn’t know, the Timelord hesitantly relented, and with shaking hands, brought her face down to his. “My brave Sarah…” he whispered before his index and middle fingers found her temple.

 It took a few seconds, but then it was like a floodgate had opened, and Sarah quickly felt an agony starting in her back and spreading out. She fought the instinct to push away and curl up tightly. She had to take as much as he was going to give her.

 Through the invading pain, she felt a fear not her own and realized his mental state was bleeding through with the physical one.

  _What’s happening to me! Make it stop! Make it stop! Please! Sarah, please… Hurts so much… What’ll become of me… Don’t hurt Sarah, please… Make it stop!_

 The onslaught became too much, but Sarah was determined not to let go. The choice was made for her a second later as she was shoved away. She was free to curl into a trembling ball of agony, cries and whimpers pushing their way through gritted teeth.

 Despite the loss of contact, the Doctor’s voice in her head didn’t stop, repeating the same thing over and over.

 She didn’t know how long they both were on the floor in that state, unable to process anything other than the shared pain in her body and strained voice in her head.

 Eventually, it faded into a dull ache, and she became aware of other sounds in the room. Panicked breathing reached her ears, not her own. She didn’t open her eyes, the idea of any light entering her eyes unpleasant.

 “S-Sarah? Sarah…” The Doctor turned her over onto her back, and one hand started petting her hair while the other pressed two fingers at her neck for a pulse. “I’m so sorry. I-I’m… I couldn’t control it. I’m sor-“

 “I-I’m alright…” Sarah assured, though the weakness in her voice wasn’t entirely convincing. “You?”

 “It was… more tolerable for a while before it faded.” In relief, he collapsed beside her, his nose pressing into her hair near her ear. “I’m sorry… I-I gave too much, couldn’t control it…”

 “It worked.”

 “Can’t do that again. Can’t. Lost control, hurt you, too much for you-“

 “We’re okay,” Sarah interrupted the panicked stream.

 “Not again.”

 Sarah opened her eyes, to find the Doctor’s so close, shining with intense naked fear. “Okay, not again.”

 The Doctor still had some strength left, and while Sarah had made no move to get off the floor, he gathered her in his arms and picked her up. On shaky legs, he carried her over to the bed, and they both fell onto the sheets together.

 The Doctor held onto Sarah from the side like a lifeline. “Thank you,” he said after a moment, a new appreciation for her rising.

 With a tired smile, Sarah slightly raised a weak hand to the Timelord’s jaw. “Whatever you need…”


	8. Chapter 8

 Sarah sat against the headboard of the bed, the head and shoulders of a shivering and occasionally whimpering Timelord huddled in on himself in her lap. Both of their hair was still damp from their recent shower. The Doctor wasn’t shivering from the chill of leaving the warm water, Sarah knew. The blanket over the rest of his body didn’t seem to have any effect. It was simply his body processing everything it had been put through so far. He was certain there wasn’t anything new in it from an injection that was specifically causing this. For the hundredth time, she wondered how much more of this he could possibly take. If Dakan was smart, at the very least, he would let the Doctor rest a few days before the next experiment.

 The Doctor slightly shifted in her lap, his grip on her hand squeezing for a second. Sarah’s fingers gently combed through his damp hair, and she bent over low to place a kiss on his cheek, just under the bruised skin around his bloodstained eye. Then she remembered a certain lullaby, one that the previous Doctor had soothed her with once while they were trapped in a dark cave. She couldn’t quite remember the alien words- Venusian, she recalled- but the tune she did.

 Sarah started humming, and the man’s response was to rub the top of his head across her abdomen and slightly pull on her hand. Sarah took that as a good sign, and kept humming the slow soothing song. It wouldn’t do anything to stop the shivering, but any little bit to help him relax was valuable.

 After a little while, she let the tune fade as she heard a faint sound outside the room. It had sounded like a shout from far away. She looked down to the man in her lap when she heard another shout. It didn’t look like he had heard or registered them.

 “Sarah?” he tiredly asked.

 Sarah gently hushed him, listening for any more sounds. After a few seconds, a faint cacophony broke out. Shouts, running, and what sounded like gunfire from non-projectile weapons. The Doctor raised his head slightly. “What is that?”

 “It sounds like a fight,” Sarah determined. “It’s getting closer,” she added as the sounds grew louder.

 The Doctor made to get up from the bed, but Sarah gingerly pushed him back down, and stood herself. He didn’t argue, but did stay sitting up and alert. “Could be a rescue, of sorts,” he said hopefully, another shiver going through his body.

 “Maybe,” Sarah acknowledged. She glanced around for anything that could be used as a weapon. Whoever was fighting Dakan’s staff could be friendly or hostile to them, and she needed to be prepared. Whichever side, Dakan’s or the new party, might open the door, she wasn’t going to make it easy for them.

 She couldn’t find anything before she heard a voice directly outside the door command, “Open this one!” Not having anything to fight with wasn’t going to deter her from trying, and she stood just to the side of the door. A few seconds later, it slid open, and she swung at whoever stepped in.

 Sarah’s hand was grabbed by a scaly purple one. She instantly tried to wrench it back, but the grip was too strong. She swung with her other hand, which bounced off the Valar’s forearm as he blocked it.

 “We are here to help,” the Valar stated, taking the two in with a glance. She let go of Sarah’s hand. “You match the description.”

 Sarah noticed the black and red armoured uniform, and insignia on the shoulder, reminding her of an elite police squad. “You’re here to rescue us?” she asked.

 “Yes,” the Valar stepped into the room. Another one stood outside, grasping the arm of one of Dakan’s guards and aiming a gun at his chest. The one who entered the room spoke into her wrist, “We found the two victims.”

 “Good,” came a slightly crackled voice through the communication device. “Wait a couple minutes for the fighting to move on before taking them out.”

 “Acknowledged.” She smiled to the Timelord and Human. “Do you need immediate medical attention?”

 “Not immediate,” the Doctor responded, rising on unsteady feet. 

 “You can walk?”

 The Doctor took a couple of steps. “They do seem to work,” he said with a little smile.

 Sarah picked up the heap of vest, jacket and scarf from the far side of the bed, and helped the Timelord into them. After glancing around to make sure nothing had fallen out of his pockets and they had all their things, she wrapped one arm around his waist to help steady him. The tremor that went through him seemed to pass through her as well.

 “All clear,” reported the Valar outside the door.

 “You lead,” the other ordered. She pulled her gun from its holster, and gestured with her head to the Doctor and Sarah. As the three stepped out of the room, the guard broke free of the officer’s grip and made a run down the corridor. He didn’t get very far before being shot in the back. He fell to the floor, unconscious and stunned.

 “Why don’t they ever cooperate?” mused the Valar behind the two former captives.

 “Is this a raid?” Sarah inquired, still helping the Doctor, her other hand now on his abdomen, even though he didn’t truly need her physical support.

 “Dakan has been skirting the law for years with his experiments,” the officer behind the pair answered. “Though there was never any actual proof of wrongdoing needed to raid this facility, until now. Someone witnessed your kidnapping, and we were able to track down the two individuals to being in Dakan’s employ. I apologize for this taking so long.”

 “I’m sure it wasn’t an easy task,” the Doctor replied.

 “Yes, thank you,” said Sarah.

 The group of four made their way out, seeing some stunned members of Dakan’s staff, and a couple of officers. They went through the security door that the Doctor and Sarah had nearly gotten through in their escape attempt. Sarah let out a long breath of relief at the sight of the sunlit lawn past what she assumed was the main entrance, then took a deep inhale when they stepped outside.

The fresh air felt so good in their lungs, and it meant they were free of Dakan’s prison. They didn’t have to spend any more days in there, suffering together.

 They were led over to an ambulance, where the paramedic checked them over for any immediate injuries. The female officer hopped in with them, as escort in case there was any chance Dakan could send someone to recapture them on the way to the hospital.

 Once the Doctor had settled on the small bed, and Sarah sat at his side, they were off. The officer sat as their silent guard.

 Another shiver passed through the Timelord’s body, and Sarah lowered her forehead to his, her hand resting between his hearts. They couldn’t get to the hospital soon enough, to make certain Dakan hadn’t snuck anything into him somehow.

 The Doctor’s eyes stared up into hers, the hemorrhaged one still slightly unnerving her, even though she’d had the time to get used to it. “I’m alright,” he assured.

 “They say doctors make the worst patients,” Sarah said lightly.

 The Doctor managed a weak chuckle. “Yes, well…”

 Sarah’s tone turned serious as she whispered, “Don’t be. Not after everything Dakan did to you.”

 The Timelord gave a solemn nod. One of his hands went up to the side of her head, as he tilted his face up to softly kiss the side of Sarah’s mouth.


	9. Chapter 9

 All in all, the Doctor and Sarah didn’t spend more than a few hours at Kleka Hospital. Both had a deep full-body scan to make certain there was nothing hostile left in their systems. Sarah didn’t protest to having it done, since she knew the Doctor needed to know this, even though Dakan hadn’t touched her with his injections. Besides, there could’ve been other ways Dakan could’ve done something to her, like an invisible gas.

 The female Valar officer who had accompanied them in the ambulance stayed with them, a silent and non-intrusive guard. Her continued presence did put the Timelord and the Human more at ease. She only spoke to inform them that Dakan himself had been captured in the raid, which definitely filled the pair with relief.

 The Doctor had insisted to the emergency physicians that he would be fine without needing to stay for further care and observation. If he was no longer infected with anything, he should be free to go. When they had responded with asking about the persistent shivering, although it had lessened in intensity, he replied that it was something that would take a little time, and that he could recover just as well or better in his ship.

 Sarah did wish her companion would’ve stayed overnight, just to make absolutely certain he’d recover fully, but she couldn’t blame him for wanting to leave as soon as they could. He wanted to be somewhere safe and familiar, and so did she. Returning to the Tardis would do them both good.

 Once that was settled, the physicians did one more test on them both. While they were being scanned with a smaller device this time, the officer said to them, “In order to best bring Dakan to justice, I’ll ask you to give written statements for use in his trial. You will not be required to stay on Valar for it, and may leave immediately after your statement, if you wish.”

 “Do you have to take us to the station to do this?” Sarah asked. At the head-tilt of slight confusion, she amended, “Your headquarters.”

 “Ah, no. We can do it in this room after the physicians are finished.” The officer pulled a small computer tablet from a back pouch.

 Once the physicians left, Sarah took the tablet first, typing out her name, how they had been kidnapped, and brief descriptions on what Dakan had done to the Doctor. Then she handed it to him, and he added to it a little. Then both signed their names at the bottom.

 “Thank you,” the officer said as she took the small computer back. “I am truly sorry your visit to our planet turned out this way.”

 “There are always a few bad apples,” the Doctor said, his tone somewhat dismissive, though it was undermined by the shiver that went through him.

 “We are already in Somawle, where you were taken. Do you desire escort to your ship?”

 The Doctor shook his head. “If you already have Dakan and his people in custody, we have nothing to fear.”

 “Just point us in the direction of that open-air market, and we’ll be fine,” said Sarah.

 The officer tilted her head again, but didn’t question the request. She gave them directions, and let them check out of the hospital.

 Once outside, the Doctor let out a long breath, and took a staggering step, caused by another shiver. Sarah immediately slid her arm around his waist. She quickly realized that some of his strength had been an act to be able to leave more quickly.

 “I thought I told you not to be a bad patient,” she hissed.

 “I was truthful, in that I will recover, given enough time. What point would there be in keeping me here, especially when they have no biomedical information on Timelords, other than the basics I was able to give them through their scans and examinations?”

 Sarah blew out a breath of frustrated with the man. Still, he had a point, considering that was the entire reason why Dakan had captured them in the first place. She looked up to his face as they continued walking. The market wasn’t too far from the hospital, though she considered waving down a taxi hovercar. The physicians couldn’t do anything for the bruises and hemorrhaged eye. Like the shivering, those would have to fade in time. He also still looked so pale and fatigued.

 The Doctor seemed to sense her thoughts, and said, “Not all of my strength back there was fake. I’m fine for walking.”

 “You’re certainly stubborn enough to,” Sarah muttered. She kept her arm around his waist, and the Doctor kept his over her shoulders. It was more for comfort than support.

 They reached the market as the sky was starting to darken. The Doctor remembered where the Tardis was perfectly from there, and soon enough they were back in its familiar hold.

 The Doctor went to the console, and set the Tardis in flight. Then he unwound his scarf from his neck and hung it on the standing coat rack. It was soon joined by his jacket and vest. He kicked off his shoes and socks, too. Sarah found that odd, since he always waited until they were in the interior rooms to do that.

 Sarah went over to him, laying a hand on the right side of his chest. “Are you really alright?”

 “Just a little time…” the Timelord sighed. “I promise,” he added a little louder. He bent his head down for a gentle kiss. A kiss that they broke off when they felt the Tardis materialize.

“Why are we landing already?” Sarah asked. “I would think we’d be floating around the vortex for a while.”

 The Doctor gave a small smile as he took her hand and went to the console to open the doors. Sarah pulled his hand away from the controls. “No,” she said. “You need to recover. I can’t imagine what kind of place we’ll have ended up in, but that can wait until you’ve fully recovered.” She couldn’t believe this, the Doctor wanting to immediately go explore somewhere else right after they’d escaped being horribly experimented on. He could at least give it a day before leaving the safety of the Tardis.

 “Sarah, please?”

 “Please, let’s go out right now? Barely a few hours after escaping Dakan? You must be-“

 “There’s something out there I want to show you.”

 “What’s out there that can’t wait?”

 The Doctor’s eyes widened in plea. “It could wait… but I think we should go out now. As a… as a comfort and reminder.”

 Sarah’s expression softened. Even with the injured eye, his puppy-dog face was starting to work on her. She could see that he needed this, and maybe she did, too. “Alright,” she relented, letting go of his hand hovering over the door control. The visible quiver of the Timelord’s hand as he opened the doors nearly made Sarah reverse her decision, but she trusted him.

 They stepped outside together, onto lush dark blue grass. It was night, the sky pinpricked by stars above. A lighter streak went across the sky, the arm of the galaxy. A silver moon hung near it, providing enough light for them to see by. They heard a gentle rushing of water nearby.

 Sarah remembered that the Doctor had left his shoes and was barefoot, but decided not to inform him. He didn’t seem bothered by the grass under his feet. It was a warm night, wherever they were.  She looked out into the distance, noticing a glow of city lights below and some distance away, subtle enough to not clash with the natural beauty. She spotted a distinct piece of architecture, one that she’d seen from the ground level only a few minutes ago.

 “We’re still on Valar?” Sarah inquired. “I would think we’d want to leave as quickly as possible.”

 “I told you in the market that I wanted to take you somewhere near the city.”

 “The waterfalls?”

 “I’ve heard they are spectacularly beautiful at night.”

 Sarah shook her head in affection. “And I’ve left my swimsuit in the Tardis.”

 They found a dirt path cut into the grass, and followed it closer to the sound of the water. They soon turned a corner, the city now out of sight, and Sarah’s mouth opened at the stunning beauty before her.

 Water gently flowed down multiple stone tiers, starting from high above. High enough that Sarah couldn’t see the top from this vantage point. The water itself was like nothing Sarah had ever seen before. Down the waterfall and in the large pool, it was glowing with luminescent blues, greens, and purples. The rocks and grass along the sides and around it were stained with the same light in rivulets and patches.

 “Wow…” Sarah breathed. “Whoever you heard that from wasn’t joking.” The lack of any people around didn’t concern Sarah, guessing that the Doctor had purposely come here this late to avoid any other visitors.

 “I love being able to experience beauty such as this with you,” the Doctor said quietly. 

 Sarah looked up to him, smiling brightly. “Thank you.” She nuzzled her face into the hand that caressed her cheek. The still-present fading physical reminders of his ordeal didn’t spoil this one bit, the strange ethereal light softening and almost erasing them.

 The two of them skirted around the edge of the pool, closer to the falling water. “Bioluminescence. None of this would be visible during the day,” the Doctor informed.

 “This place would already be stunning enough in the day,” Sarah nodded. “But this…”

 They stopped, and the Doctor unbuttoned his shirt, letting it fall to the grass. His trousers quickly followed, leaving him in his underwear.

 Then, almost in a trancelike state, the Timelord stepped into the water. His presence seemed to barely disturb the glowing trails of coloured light as he slowly walked through them. Sarah watched from the edge, transfixed by the enchanting sight. The man’s hand dipped into the water, and came back out with glowing trails that dripped off.

The water came up to his waist by the time he made it over to stand under the fall itself. Not directly under the hardest torrent, but close enough for the water to gently wash over him. Sarah could only stare, her breath caught in her chest, as the effect that had happened with his hand amplified over his head, torso, and arms. Not only were the coloured trails washing over him, but some colour was sticking to his hair and skin, essentially painting him. The effect made him look like some sort of ethereal mystical being.

 The Doctor turned to her and reached out with his arm. “Come in, Sarah. The water is nice.”

 Sarah didn’t quickly strip down to her bra and underwear, the atmosphere of this place not calling for rushing. The Doctor closed his eyes as she did so, not from a sense of modesty, Sarah could tell, but from a feeling of peace under the descending water.

 Sarah took a tentative step into the glowing pool with her bare foot. It was cool, but not too much so to contrast with the warm night. She slowly walked out from the edge, watching in amazement as the glowing trails broke around her, then instantly reformed once she had passed through, giving the illusion of non-disturbance. Sarah copied the motion with her hand that the Doctor had done, gazing at the purple and green dripping from her fingers.   

 Sarah made it over to the Timelord under the fall. He opened his eyes and reached out for her hand. She took it and let her gently pull him under the gentle water with him. She raised her other arm and watched as the water painted it with tiny glowing trails. The Doctor gently took her chin in his hand, and grinned slightly as his thumb left a faint glowing patch of blue on her jaw. Sarah smiled at him in return, and stepped closer to lay one hand on his chest.

 “Was this worth the little trip?” the Doctor asked.

 “Oh, yes. This is so… incredible.” Sarah’s face darkened as she added, “I don’t know if it was worth Dakan and-“

 The Doctor placed a finger over Sarah’s lips and shook his head, his wet hair clinging to his cheeks and neck. “That’s over.” The little tremor around the man’s shoulders didn’t escape Sarah’s notice, undermining the statement slightly, but she didn’t mention it. “That’s over,” the Doctor repeated. “Here and now… with you, is all that’s on my mind.”

 Sarah nodded, pushing the recent horrible memories away again. She closed her eyes as the Doctor’s hands gently held the side of her head and slowly went down to her shoulders. His mouth placed a soft kiss to the top of her head. He had been right earlier in the Tardis. He needed this immediately after what they had gone through, and so did she. Not only for the physical comfort, but for the emotional reminder of some of the universe’s beauty, no matter the terrible things they came across.

 The Doctor took Sarah’s hands and lowered them into the water for a moment. Sarah looked at him in confusion, but didn’t question it. When he brought her hands out, the palms were colourful enough for his intention, and he pressed them to his chest.

 It was a very faint effect against the brilliant glow of the water-painted streaks, like the patch on Sarah’s jaw, but when her hands came away from his skin, her mixed blue and purple handprints were visible over his hearts.

 Sarah let the Timelord push the left strap of her bra over her shoulder to place a handprint consisting of all three colours over her heart. She glanced down at it for a second, and beamed at him. “I know of another beauty in the universe.”

 “What’s that?”

 “Us.”

The Doctor’s arms slid around Sarah’s back to pull her in close. Her arms looped up around his neck. The kiss was soft and passionate, and felt absolutely magical in the environment.

 They simply stood there, together in their love, the waterfall erasing and bestowing more luminescent streaks on them.   


End file.
